LB 

41 
.Cb4 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



PRESENTED BY 



UNITED STATES OB AMERICA. 



DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED AT SCHENECTADY, 

JULY 22d, A. D. 1823. 

BEFORE THE NEW-YORK ALPSA 



BY THE HONOURABLE 

DE WITT CLINTON, LL. D. 

THIRD EDITION. 

NEW-YORK; ' 

PVSLISBXD BY K. BLISS &L E. WHITE'i 

IS33. 



^ 



SISCOVXLSE. 



Mr- Pbesident, 

^nd Gentlemen of the Society — 

IN accepting the honour of your renewed invitations to ap^- 
pear at thi^ place, I have not been insensible of your kind pre- 
ference ; aid when you were pleased to intimate that the deep 
interest of siience, in exhibitions of this nature, might be pro- 
moted by liy co-operation, I considered it my imperative 
duty, to yield a cheerful compliance. When I endeavour to 
enforce those \onsiderations which ought to operate upon us 
generally as n»n, and particularly as Americans, to attend to 
jhe cultivationW knowledge, youjwill not, I am persuaded, 
expect that I shaj act the holiday orator, or attempt an ambi- 
tious parade, and^stentatious display, or a gaudy exhibition, 
which would ueitlV suit the character of the society, the dis- 
position of the speVer, the solemnity of the place, or the im- 
portance of the ocction. What 1 say, shall come strictly 
within the purview oNhe institution, shall be comprised in the 
language of unvarnisKd truth, and shall be directed with an 
exclusive view to advaW the interests of literature. I shall 
not step aside to embelllh or to dazzle, to cull a flower or to 
collect a gem. Truth, lit beauty, needs not the aid of orna- 
ment, and the cause of kWledge requires no factitious as- 
sistance, for it stands on iopwn merits, supporting and sup- 
ported by the primary interns of society, and deriving its ef- 
fulgent light from the radiating of heaven. 

Man without cultivation diVrs but little from the animals 
which resemble him in form. His ideas would be few and 
glimmering, and his meaning Wuld be conveyed bj signs or 



by confused sounds. His food would be the acorn or locust — 
his habitation, the cave — his pillow, the rock — his bed, the 
leaves of the forest — his clothes, the skins of wild beasts. Des^ 
titute of accommodations, he would roam at large seeking for 
ibod, and evincing in all his actions, that the state of untutored 
nature is a state of war. If we cast our eyes over the pages 
of history, or view the existing state of the world, we will find 
thai this description is not exaggerated or over-charged. Ma- 
ny nations are in a condition still more deplorable and deba- 
sed, sunk to the level of brutes, and neither in the appearance 
of their bodies, or in the character of their minds, bearing a 
resemblance to civilized humanity. Others are iomewhat 
more advanced, and begin to feel the day-spring frrm on high 
• — while those that have been acclimated to virtuf, and natu- 
ralized to intelligence, have passed through a severe course of 
experiments and a long ordeal of sufferings. 

Almost all the calamities of man, except the physical evils 
which are inherent in his nature, are in a grea measure to be 
imputed to erroneous views of religion or bac^systems of go- 
vernment ; and these cannot be co-existent fo any considera- 
ble time with an extensive diflusion of knoviedge. Either the 
predominance of intelligence will destroy 'le government, or 
the government will destroy it. Either i will extirpate su- 
perstition and enthusiasm, or they will cfitaminate its purity, 
and prostrate its usefulness. Knowledf^ is the cause as well 
as the effect of good government. Ncsystem of government 
can answer the benign purposes of th social combinations of 
man, which is not predicated on libcy ; and no creed of reli-, 
gion can sustain unsullied purity o' support its high destina- 
tion, which is mingled with the coriiptions of human govern- 
ment. Christianity is in its ess'ice, its doctrines and its 
forms, republican : It teaches au descent from a common pa- 
rent : it inculcates the natural quality of mankind ; and it 
points to our origin and our^nd, to our nativity and our 
graves, and to our immortal ^^stinies, as illustrations of this 
impressive truth. But at ar^ai'ly period it was pressed into 
fhe service of the potentates f the earth • the unnatural unioip^ 



of church and state was consummated ; and the sceptre of 
Constantine was supported by the cross of Jesus. The liglit 
of knowledge was shut out from the general mass, and confined 
to the select organs of tyranny ; and mm was for ages enve- 
loped in the thickest gloom of intellectual and moral darkness. 
At the present crisis in human affairs, we perceive a great and 
portentous contest between power and liberty — between the 
monarchical and the representative systems. The agonies 
and convulsions of resuscitating nature have agitated the na- 
tions, and before they are restored to their rights and the 
world to its repose, the hand of famine, the scythe of p.^sti- 
lence, and the sword of depopulation, will fill up the measure 
of human calamity. 

The present stale of the world exhibits an extraordinary as- 
pect. In former times, it was the policy of the sovereign to 
encourage eminent merit in literature, science and the arts. 
The glory that was radiated on intellectual excellence was re- 
flected back on the government ; but these dispensations 
of munificence, were confined to the Aristotles, the Virgils, and 
the Plinys of the age. The body of the people were kept in 
a state of profound ignorance, and considered as the profanum 
vulgus, to be employed as hewers of wood and drawers of wa- 
ter, and to be used as beasts of burden or of prey, as the poli- 
cy or the caprice of the depot should prescribe. 

The revolution ejected by the invention of printing, has 
created a corps of literary men in the cities, the universities, 
the academies, the lyceums, and philosophical societies, of the 
most arbitrary governments of Europe, which have exercised 
an influence over public opinion almost irresistible, Man is 
the creature of imitation and sympathy : and however callous 
the sovereign might be to public opinion, yet it predomina- 
ted over his ministers, who in reality wielded the sceptre. The 
consequence was, that a more extensive diflusion of knowledge 
was promoted, and the blessings of instruction visited the cot- 
tage as well as the palace. Monitorial schools and religious 
societies were generally established, and the sunshine of men- 
tal and moral illumination penetrated the darkness which co- 



a 

Tered the nation*. To know our rights is to assert them. The 
principles of the American revolution became tlie text-book of 
liberty, and its practical commentaries are to be read in the 
events now occurring in various parts of the globe. Greece 
has unfurled the holy standard of liberty, and waves it in de- 
fiance over the crescent of Mahomet. Spanish America is 
breaking the chains of tyranny ; — Spain and Portugal have 
drawn the sword in vindication of the rights of man : Public 
opinion is operating with magic influence in Great Britain in 
favour of the oppressed nations ; and the result Avill show, 
that the physical strength of Europe must follow the train of 
its moral power. It is in vain to say, that the people now in 
commotion are unfit for free government. Conceding the fact, 
it avails nothing in the argument. The human character is 
principally moulded by knowledge, religion, freedom, and 
government. The free states of Greece exhibited difierent as- 
pects of mind, of manners, and of morals. But we no lon- 
ger remark, as a distinguishing characteristic, the etherial spi- 
rit of the Athenian, the pastoral simplicity of the Arcadian, 
the stupidity of the Boeotian, or the laconic brevity ot the 
Spartan.* The sweeping hand of despotism has confounded 
ill one mass all the delicate colouring, the lights and shades of 
the picture. In revolutionary times great talents and great vir- 
tues, as well as great vices and great follies, spring into being. 
The energies of our nature are put into requisition, and du- 
ring the whirlwind and the tempest, innumerable evils will be 
perpetrated. But all the transient mischiefs of revolutions 
are mild when compared with the permanent calamities of ar- 
bitrary power. The one is a sweeping deluge, an awful tor- 
nado, which quickly passes avva}' — bat the other is a volcano, 
continually ejecting rivers of lava — an earthquake bur3ing 
whole countries in ruin. The alleged inaptitude of man for 
liberty, is the effect of the oppressions which he has sufiered : 
and until a free government can shed its propitious influence 
over time — until, perhaps, a nev.' generation lias risen up un- 
der the new order of things, with new habits and new princi- 

* IIu2h:s° Xiavelfi in G.eece, 



pies, society will be in a state of agitation and mutation, fac- 
tion will be lord ol the ascendant, and frenzy and fury, de- 
nunciation and proscription, will be the order of the day. The 
dilemma is inevitable. Either the happiness of the many, or 
the predominance of the few, must be sacrificed. The flame 
of liberty and the light of knowledge, emanate from the same 
sacred fire, and subsist on the same aliment : And the seeds of 
instruction widely disseminated, will, like the serpent's teeth in 
the pagan mythology, that were sown into the earth, rise up 
against oppression in the shape of the iron men of Cadmus. 
In such a cause, who can hesitate to make an election ? The 
factions and convulsions of free governmeuts, are not so san- 
guinary in character, or terrific in efiects, as the animosities 
and intestine wars of monarchies, about the succession — the 
insurrections of the military — the proscriptions of the priest- 
hood, and the cruelties of the administration. The spirit of 
a republic is the friend, and the genius of a monarchy is tlie 
enemy of peacp. Thn potentates of the earth have, for cen- 
turies back, maintanied large standing armies, and on the most 
frivolous pretexts, have created havoc and desolation : And 
when we compare the world, as it is under arbitrary power, 
with the world as it was under free republics, what an awful 
contrast does it exhibit ! What a solemn lesson does it incul- 
cate ! The ministers of famine and pestilence, of death and 
destruction, have formed the van, and brought up the rear, of 
despotic authority. The monuments of the arts — the fabrics 
of genius and skill, and the sublime erections of piety and sci- 
ence, have been prostrated ii; the dust ; and the places where 
Demosthenes and Cicero spoke, where Homer and Virgil sang, 
and where Plato and Aristotle taught, are now exhibited as 
mementos of the perishable nature of human glory. The fo- 
rum of Rome is converted into a market for cattle :f the sa- 
cred fountain of Castalia is surrounded, not by the muses and 
graces, but by the semi-barbarous girls of Albania :J the lau- 
rel groves, and the deified heights of Parnassus, are the asylum 
©f banditti : — Bab}; Ion can only be traced by its bricks ;— 
t Ei«iace's It»l/, i Hughes' Traytls. 



8 

The sands of the desert have overwhelmed the splendid city of 
Palmyra, and are daily encroaching on the fertile territories 
of the Nile : and the malaria has driven man from the fairest 
portions of Italy, and pursued him to the very gates of the 
Eternal City. 

Considerations like these announce to us in the most im- 
pressive manner, the importance of our position in the civili- 
zed world, and the necessity of maintaining it. The recipro- 
cal action of knowledge and free government on each other, 
partake in some measure, of the character of identity : for 
wherever liberty is firmly established, knowledge must be a 
necessary concomitant. And if we desire to occupy this 
exalted ground — if we wish to improve, to extend, and to per- 
petuate the blessings of freedom, it is essential, absolutely 
essential, to improve, to extend, and to perpetuate the blessings 
of education. Let us not deceive ourselves by the delusions 
of overweening confidence, and the chimeras of impregnable 
-security, and fondly suppose tliat we are to rise superior to the 
•calamities of other nations. Our climate is salubrious, and 
we are free from pestilence — our soil is fertile, and famine is a 
stranger — our character is pacific, and war is a rare occur- 
rence ; but if we only suppose a relaxation of the sinews of 
industry, and the presence of a tiger-like thirst for human 
blood, then the consequent neglect of productive industry, 
and the vast accumulation of taxes, would drain the resour- 
ces of individuals, and impoverish the public treasury ; and 
plague and famine, poverty and depopulation, would follow in 
the train of pre-CNisting calamities. Nor is it to be conceal- 
ed, that dangers of the most formidable nature may assail us 
from other sources — some peculiar to our situation, and others 
that are common to all free states. 

Faction and luxury — the love of money, and the love of 
power, were the hydra-headed monsters that destroyed the 
ancient republics. At the time that the Roman commonwealth 
was overturned, all ranks of men were so corrupted, that 
tables were publicly set out, upon which the candidates for offi- 
ces were professedly ready to pay the people the price of their 



9 

votes ; and they came not only to give their voices to the 
man who had bought them, but with all manner of weapons 
to fight for him. Hence it often happened, that they did not 
part without polluting the tribunal with blood and murder, 
and the city was a perpetual scene of anarchy.* The justice 
of heaven pursued the perpetrators of these enormities, and 
Rome was scourged with a series of the most detestable ty- 
rants that ever disgraced the character of humanity. Although 
corruption will not at first present itself under such hideous 
forms, yet its approaches will be insidious, undermining and 
dangerous. It will appeal to cupidity and to ambition, by 
magnificent promises and by donatives of office, if not by lar- 
gesses of money. Good men are too often lethargic and in- 
active — bad men are generally bold and adventurous. And 
unless arrested by the vigilant intelligence and virtuous indig- 
nation of the community, faction will, in process of time, con- 
taminate all the sources of public prosperity — a deleterious 
poison will be infused into the vital principles of the body po- 
litic — intrigue, ignorance, and impudence will be the passports 
to public honors — and the question will be, not whether the 
man is fit for the office, but whether the office is fit for the 
man. In this crisis of the republic, its degenerate and unprin- 
cipled sons will unite in a common crusade against the public 
good, and will encircle the land with a cordon of corrupt and 
daring spirits, like the peccant humours of the body, which, 
in a dangerous disease, collect in the morbid part of the sys- 
tem. 

There are also peculiar circumstances in our situation, 
which ought to silence high-toned arrogance, and admonish 
us of the dangers which surround us. The experiment of a 
great empire, founded on the federative principle, has not 
been fully tested by the efflux of time and the pressure of 
events. The ancient democracies, where the people legislated 
in person, were ruined by the smallness of their area. The 
impulses of faction were sudden, unchecked, and overwhelm- 
ing. An extensive republic, like ours, may be destroyed by 

* Plutarch. 

B 



10 

a conspircy of the members against the head, or the power of 
gover;jment may be spent as it extends, like a circle in the 
waier which is lost by its own expansion. And an apprehen- 
sion of tl)is occurrence may induce the establishment of stand- 
ing armies in the extremities of the empire, which, as in the 
days of ancient Rome, will rush to the capital, to divide the 
spoils of power and wealth. Nor is it to be concealed that a 
spirit is active in the community, which tends to the destruc- 
tion of the union, and the consequent subversion of the best 
hopes of man. It may be considered as giving too much in 
to refinement, to intimate that the sectional prejudices which 
prevail in certain parts of the union, may be derived from he- 
reditary antipathies and feelings, and that as the eastern states 
were chiefly settled by the Puritans or Roundheads of Eng- 
land, and the principal southern states by the Cavaliers or 
Royalists, a diversity of manners was entailed on their proge- 
ny, which has tended to increase and exasperate the ancient 
animosities that were at the same time transmitted. I shall 
not, although I should be fortified by the great names of Aris- 
totle, Bacon, Berkeley, BufTon and Montesquieu, rely on the 
operation of physical causes, although perhaps they are not 
without their influence. It was the opinion of the Stagyrite, 
that the climate of Greece was the best possible one for the 
production of great men. The Greeks, said he, hold a middle 
place in physical and moral qualities, as well as topographic- 
al situation, between the northern Europeans and the southern 
Asiatics, possessing the courage of the former, without their 
torpor of intellect, and the ingenuity of the latter, without 
their abjec H «.position. Lord Bacon has observed, that the 
inhabitant of the south are in general more ingenious than 
those oi he n >rd), but that where the native of a cold climate 
has genioj, iie rises to a higher pitch than can be realized by 
the southern wits. And Bishop Berkeley* has illustrated this 
opinion by comparing the southern wits to cucumbers, which 
are commonly all good in their kind, but at best are an in- 
sipid fruit, while the northern geniuses are like melons, of 
* Berkeley's Minute Philosopher. 



11 

which not one in fifty is good, but when it is so it has an ex- 
quisite relish. However pertinent this doctrine may be, 
where it was intended to apply, it can have but little weight 
in reference to us. The difference of latitude and tempera- 
ture is not so great as to produce the predicated results ; and 
so far as facts can be ascertained, they will not bear out the 
ascription. It is probable that the causes so much to be de- 
precated, come under the denomination of moral, and are to 
be found in slavery ; for wherever it prevails, it generates an 
anti-commercial and an anti-manufacturing spirit, and at the 
same time it produces a lofty sense of independence, which is 
among the strongest preservatives of our republican govern- 
ments. In the other states, where commerce and manufac- 
tures are cultivated as well as agriculture, there is no real col- 
lision of interest with the states purely agricultural. There 
js, on the contrary, an identity ; and although the prosperity 
of each, is the prosperity of all, yet jealousies will spring out 
of the IcgisliUive encouragement and protection of these great 
interests. To encourage the fabrics of art, is to encourage 
the fabrics of nature — to protect manufactures, is to advance 
the growth of the raw materials of which they are made — to 
countenance commerce, is to countenance cheapness of trans- 
portation and goodness of market — and to promote the wealth 
of any member or section of the union, is to enhance its abili- 
ty to use the fabrics, and to consume the productions of the 
other. The growing expansion of liberal feelings, and the 
illuminating progress of political philosophy, have had a salu- 
tary tendency in checking prejudices and antipathies which 
have too much prevailed. But little to our honor, I speak it 
with regret, they have been recently excited by a contest of 
equestrian swiftness. In the Olympic games, where enlight- 
ened Greece assembled, where Homer recited his poem and 
Thucidides his history, the laurelled crown, the " palma nobi- 
lis"* was awarded to the man, not to the beast; but the late 
display reminds us of the degenerate days of Rome, when a 
horse was raised to the honors of the consulship ; and of the 

* Horace. 



12 

Prasini and the Veneti, the green and blue factions, which 
arose from those colors of liverj in horse races, and which 
accelerated, if not occasioned the ruin of the Greek empire.* 

The necessity of counteracting the tendency of all human 
institutions to debasement — of guarding with efficacious cir- 
cumspection against the advances of anarchy and tyranny, 
and of preventing the evils to which we are peculiarly expo- 
sed, from expanded territory and geographical prejudices, 
must be obvious ; and for this purpose, it is essential to at- 
tend, with increased zeal, to the great interests of education, 
and to promote, with unrelaxed fervor, the sacred cause of 
science. Education includes moral as well as intellectual cul- 
ture — the georgics of the heart as well of the head ; and we 
must emphatically look up to a general diffusion of knowledge 
as the palladium of a free government — the guarantee of the 
representative system, and the aegis of our federative exis- 
tence. 

Is it necessary, on this occasion, to show the important con- 
nexion between science and all the arts, which contribute to 
the sustenance, the accommodation, and the embellishment of 
human life ? The analytic researches of chemistry have open- 
ed to us a knowledge of the constituent parts of soils, minerals, 
vegetables, and other substances, and have developed their 
useful application. From the first conception of the propul- 
sion of vessels by steam, by the Marquis of Worcester, to its 
consummation by Fulton, how slow was the progress — how 
difficult the accomplishment ! And this could never have 
been effected, had it not received the aids of chemical disco- 
very, of mathematical calculation, and of mechanical philoso- 
phy. All that relates to the economy of labor by machine- 
ry — to the facilitation of intercourse by canals and bridges — 
to naval, civil, and military architecture — to the improvement 
of agriculture — to the advancement of the mechanic arts — 
must be derived directly, or indirectly, from scientific re- 
search. 

It is an ordinance of heaven, that man must be employed, 
•r be unhappy. Mental or corporeal labor is the destinatioA 

^ Gibbon. 



13 

of his ngfture ; and when he ceases to be active, he ceases to 
be useful, and descends to the level of vegetable life: And 
certainly those pursuits which call into activity his intellectual 
powers, must contribute most to his felicity, his dignity and 
his usefulness. The vigorous direction of an active mind to 
the accomplishment of good objects, forms its most extatic 
delights. " Haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem ob- 
lectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium 
praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant no- 
biscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur."* 

The honor and glory of a nation consists in the illustrious 
achievements of its sons in the cabinet and in the field — in 
the science and learning which compose the knowledge of 
man — in the arts and inventions which administer to his ac- 
commodation, and in the virtues which exalt his character. 
Scarcely two centuries have elapsed since the settlement of 
these United States, and in that period we have seen a Wash- 
ington, a Henry, a Franklin, a Rittenhouse, and a Ful- 
ton — the most splendid names in war, in eloquence, in philo- 
sophy, in astronomy, and in mechanics, which the world has 
ever witnessed. The congress of patriots who proclaimed 
our independence in the face of an admiring world, and in 
the view of approving heaven, have descended, with three ex- 
ceptions, to the grave ; and in this illustrious band were com- 
prised more virtue, and wisdom, and patriotism and energy, 
than in any association of ancient or modern times. I might 
proceed, and pronounce an eulogium on our savans who have 
illustrated philosophy and the exact sciences — on our literati, 
who have explored the depths and ascended the heights of 
knowledge — on our poets, who have strung the lyre of Apol- 
lo — on our painters, who have combined the sublime and the 
beautiful in the graphic art — on our statesmen, who have 
taught the ways and means of establishing the greatest happi- 
ness of the greatest number — and on our theologians, who 
have vindicated the ways of God to man. But 1 forbear. 
The task of selection is at all times invidious ; and most of 

* Cicero. 



14 

the distinguished men to whom I alhide, are still living, and 
probably some of them are now present : And I ougiit cer- 
tainly neither to offend their modesty, nor violate my sense 
of self-respect, by the obtrusion of praise which is not re- 
quired by the occasion, and which will be more suitably, and 
unquestionably most liberally, dispensed by future times. 

When we consider the small areas in which the insignia of 
human greatness have been displayed, we will find equal 
cause for astonishment and exultation. Attica was not more 
extensive than some of our counties, and the whole of Greece 
did not exceed this state in dimensions. Rune, for a long 
period, did not cover as great an extent : And the Swiss Can- 
tons, the United Netherlands and Engliind, when con)pared 
with the illustrious men and the illustrious dteds «)f which they 
can boast, are of a very limited space. The United Stales 
contain more than a twentieth part of the land of this globe, 
and not 600,000 square miles less than the whole of Europe. 
The Deity has placed iis on a ang!)ty continent : The plastic 
hand of nature has operated on a stupendous scale : Our 
rivers and lakes — our cataracts and mountains — our soil and 
climate — bear the impress of greautess, of liErtility, of salubri- 
ty. In this spacious theatre, replete witli the sublime and the 
beautiful, let us act a correspondent part. Tliis state, which 
now has a population of a million and a half, is capable of 
supporting ten millions of souls, and before this century closes, 
this maximum will be attained. And if in the councils of the 
Almighty it is decreed, that we shall continue to advance in 
all that can render a people intelligent and virtuous, prosperous 
and happy, with what reverence will posterity regard the 
memory of those who have laid the foundation of such great- 
ness and renown ! 

The elementary parts of education in common schools, are 
the substrata of the studies of the academy and the college — 
and then again the acquisitions of those institutions become 
the basis of professional pursuits in divinity, law, or medicine, 
and the foundation of that information which leads to more 
momentous advances in the cabinet, the senate, or the field — 



15 

which penetrates the regions of discovery and invention, and 
which enlightens the world by literary disquisuioii and scien- 
tific investigation. Giving full credit to all the benetits deri- 
ved from the prescribed courses of collegiate studies, perhaps 
the faculties of young men are more powerfully evolved by 
institutions like the present, which generate habits of observa- 
tion and reflection, and which produce ability in_^ composition 
and facility in public speaking. And equally striking are the 
benefits of the extensive libraries uithin reach, where the "re- 
lics of the ancient saints of literature, full of true virtue and 
without delusion or imposture,"* and the oblations and of- 
ferings of the votaries of learniig in other times, are preser- 
ved. 

The field of honor and usefulness is now before you. What- 
ever direction you take, whatever course you adopt, it is in 
your power to become eminent. The first man in his profes- 
sion is often absolutely, and always relatively, a great man. 
In this country particularly, every man has it in his power to 
be the architect of his own furU'.ne. And when he rises, let 
him ascend the pyramid of greatness, not by the creeping tor- 
tuous windings of tlie reptile, but by the sublime flight of the 
bird of Jove. The eagle erects his aerie on the mountain 
top — looks at the sun with undazzled eyes, and defies the 
thunder and the storm. The serpent creeps on the earth, 
hides in the cavern, and sinks Into torpiditj'. 

Without referring to the inducements for exertion arising 
from the successful cnterprizes of our citizens at home, it must 
be sufllcient to animate you to active industr}', by pointing out 
the harvest of profit and glory which has been reaped abroad. 
West, of P^nns3'lvania, has delighted and astonished the 
world, by his pictorial performances. Murray, of New-York, 
has written the best work on English Grammar, evincing a 
mind of the most lucid, discriminating and arranging consti- 
tution, and he is now enjoying the rewards of his piety and 
erudition, in the smiles of an approving conscience, and the 
plaudits of good men. Perkins, of Massachusetts, is now 

* Bacon. 



16 

pushing that wonderful invention, the steam engine, to the ut- 
most verge of perfection. Many of our enterprising youth 
are now traversing sea and land in the pursuit of science — 
some are seated in the celebrat^d schools of medicine and 
natural science — some are in the great cities, examining the 
fabrics of art, the machinery and processes of manufacturing, 
ihe movements and evolutions of commerce, and the complex 
relations of pohtical economy. Others are moving in various 
directions, improving their information in agriculture, their 
taste in tlie fine arts, and adding to tiieir knowledge of men 
and things A late writer* mentions that at a popular point 
of his tour in Switzerland, it appeared from a register which 
he consulted, that even in that sequestered region the propor- 
tion of American travellers was respectable. 

The revolution in navigation is ihe most astonishing por- 
tion of history. Wherever great communications can be 
maintained by water, the seats of commerce and navigation, 
of dense population and extensive dominion, will be establish- 
ed at those places. Before the discovery of the magnet, na- 
vigation was generally within sight of land. Who does not 
smile when he reads of the ten 3 ears wanderings and suffer- 
ings of Ulysses from Ilium m Asia Minor to the little Island 
of Ithica, which, within a few years, has been taken posses- 
sion of by a British Sergeant and his guard,f and of the ter- 
rific and appailins; adventures of the pious ^Eceas in a voyage 
from the former place to Italy f If an epic poem were now 
written, conceived by the sublime genius of Homer, and ma- 
tured by the embellished taste and correct judgment of Virgil, 
describing in " thoughts that breathe and v\ords that burn,"f 
the voyage of a hero full of emprise and pregnant with dan- 
ger, from the city of New-York to the Island of St. Domingo, 
or the mouth of the Mississippi, (tlie full distance of tlie pro- 
gress of Ulysses and jEneas,) although it might be sustained 
by all the interest arising (rom important episodesaiid preter- 
natural machinery, yet the essence of the poem would be so 
absurd that no genius or management could protect it from 
* Simond. i Hobouse's Travels. t day. 



17 

the line and cry of universal contempt. The Mediterranean 
sea was the locus of ancient navigation, and on its borders 
sprung up in succession, the four great monarchies — the As- 
syrian, the Persian, the Grecian and the Roman : and " all 
our religion — almost all our law — -almost all our arts — almost 
all that sets us above savages, have come to us from the shores 
of the Mediterranean."* The mariner's compass has opened 
the gates of the great oceans, and the enterprising spirit former- 
ly imprisoned in a small space, has spread over the globe, car- 
rying with it the riches of commerce aud the refinements of 
knowledge. A voyage to Europe is now considered an excur- 
sion of pleasure : a voyage to China is viewed as a common oc- 
currence, and even a voyage of circumnavigation round the 
globe, which was formerly contemplated with more apprehen- 
sion than all the labors of Hercules, passes without much ob- 
servation. This spirit has extended to all modes of travelling, 
and all objects of discovery. The application of steam to the 
propulsion of boats — the establishment of swift packets, the im- 
provement of natural and the creation of artificial water cour- 
ses, have produced the approximation of remote places and 
substituted contiguity in lieu of distance. In former times, 
and within the recollection of some who hear me, a voyage to 
Oswego, or a journey to Niagara, was considered a difficult 
and bold enterprise, and the Island of Michilimackinack was 
viewed as the ultima Thule of America. — All parts of the 
world are now explored by American enterprise : and if we 
reap so nobly the fruits of our industry and capacity in exer- 
tions abroad, a much more extensive harvest of glory remains 
for our operations at home. 

LinnoDus has truly observed, that " what we know of the 
Divine works, are much fewer than those of which we are ig- 
norant." The first edition of his Species Plantarum contain- 
ed only 7300 plants, and now upwards of 50,000 are enume- 
rated ; and it is almost certain that our forests, our marshes, 
and our mountains, contain the most interesting non-descripts. 
Zoology has been very partially cultivated. Almost all our 

'" Dr. Johnson 

c 



18 

jnammalla, many of our fishes, amphibia ami birds, have beei» 
arranged and described. Entomology has been, I may say,, 
altogether overlooked ; and mineralogy and geolegy present 
unbounded scope for investigation. In some of our great 
seminaries of instruction, the elements of natural science are 
taught, and our young physicians generally go into active life 
%vith initiatory information. We have lyceums established in 
various places, which will serve as schools of natural iiistor}^, 
and as depositories of its treasures. Wherever a subject has 
been properly and scientifically described, it can always be 
recognized from the description. But here the functions of 
the philosopher do not terminate : The species is, to be sure, 
determined — its generic character ascertained, and it is enrol- 
led by a name in its appropriate order and class, but a still 
more expanded field of observation and inquiry remains : you 
are introduced to a stranger — his name is announced, and 
you have observed his external form and manners : but can 
you be said to understand his character until you have sound- 
ed the depths and shallows of lis mind, and examlhed the 
good and bad qualities of his heart — the variations of his 
conduct — the impulses, predilections and prejudices which 
tinge the colour of his life, and the variety of lights and shades 
which enter into the composition of his character ? In 
like manner, you see a mineral, a plant, or an animal — may 
learn its name, and understand its scientific arrangements ;. 
but your knowledge of it would be very imperfect, and almost 
altogether useless, unless you proceed further, and investigate 
its habitations and localities — its properties and uses — and if 
an organized being, its manners, its morals, and its habits. 
And awing to the neglect of tliese obvious and important con- 
siderations, natural science has not attained its merited rank 
in the scale of utility, and in the estimation of the public. 
The prodigal creation of genera — the preposterous multipli- 
cation of species — the adoption of new nomenclatures — the 
augmentation of synonymes — and the conversion of varieties 
into species, and of species into genera, have darkened the 
sgieace with wyriads of useless and barbarous terms — have 



19 

suiried Its lustre, and depreciated its sterling merits. "If every 
minute diflerence, every trifling variation," said Linnaeus in a 
letter to Haller, " is to establish a new species, why should I 
delay to exhibit ten thousand such species ?" 

Vanity furnishes a sufficient fund of inducement for this 
ridiculous course. A new species, or a new genus, entitles the 
nomenclator to the honours of a discovery ; and in acting the 
godfather, he will probably select the Jiame of a friend, and ex- 
pect in time the return of the compliment. The dealers in 
specimens, have also a direct interest in the increase and con- 
fusion of nomenclature : For every n«w name of the same 
substance, an addition may be made to the stock of their com- 
modities, and the range of their sales. But the honours of a 
new system of arrangement are too flattering and transcend- 
ant not to be attempted ; and the consequence is, that the system 
of Linn^us has been mutilated, and in a great degree displa- 
ced, and new ones substituted, which have introduced the reign 
cf chaos and old night, into natural science. It has indeed in 
some instances been judiciously modified, and greatly melio- 
rated. But better for the cause of knowledge to have an uni- 
form system, widi many defects, than to be perplexed and em- 
barrassed with a diversity. We can travel on one highway 
without losing ourselves, but if we are bewildered by many 
roads and bye-paths, our progress will be slow, uncertain and 
erroneous. When philosophy consists in words and not in 
things, it loses its body and becomes a shadow — it changes the 
real for the nominal : And it is not too uncharitable to say, 
that the philosophers of terminology assume the physiognomy 
of knowledge and conceal the absence of ideas by the use of 
hard words, as the cuttle-fish merges itself in concealment by 
the dark fluid which it emits. 

This endless jargon of nomenclature — this " rudis indiges- 
taque moles"* of science, has imposed a moral duresse upon 
the freedom of the mind : and the votary of nature cannot 
penetrate the adytum of its holy temple, without encountering 
the same obstacles which the knight of chivalry had to su§- 

« OvicL 



20 

tain, when he endeavoured to force his way into an enchanted 
castle, through the opposition of dragons, lions, giants and 
genii, gorgons, hydras, and chimaeras dire : and the human 
mind, borne down with a load of verbiage, is doomed to suffer 
an intellectual torture, like prisoners in England, who on 
their arraignment, refusing to plead, and standing mute, were 
sentenced to undergo the peine forte et dure, and to be smo- 
thered to death under weights piled on their recumbent bodies. 
And unquestionably, these innovations are as deteriorating as 
the scholastic philosophy introduced by tlie commentators on 
Aristotle — a philosophy of words and notions — distinctions 
andsubtelties — abstract ideas, and occult qualities — that either 
covered the intellectual world with darkness, or glimmered 
like shadows in the twilight, which the eye could hardly dis- 
tinguish from the surrounding gloom. All such proceedings 
would indicate " as if there were sought in knowledge a 
couch whereupon to rest an uneasy spirit ; or a terrace for a 
wandering mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect ; 
or a tower of state for a proud mind to rest itself upon ; or a, 
fort, or commanding ground, for strife and contention ; or a 
ship for profit or sale, and not a rich store-house for the glory 
of God, and the benefit of man."* 

Shall we then call on some transcendant genius to dispel the 
darkness ? Some intellectual Hercules, to purify the Augean 
Stable ? Some mighty Bacon to act the great deliverer ,'' 

The j^reat deliverer he ! who from the gloom 
Of cloister d monks and jargon-teaching schools, 
Led forth the true philosophy', — here long 
Iltld in the magic chain of words and forms, 
And definitions void : He led her forth, 
Daughter of Vieaven : — That, slow ascending, still 
Investigating sure the chain of things, 
IVith radiant finger points to heav'n again. I 

This gloomy representation must not, however, produce 
despondence, and the amateur need not take the Leucadian 
leap, in despair of attaining the object of his fond devotions. 

* Be^coOi t Thomson. 



21 

The leading savans of France have combined to restore the 
botanical part of the Liunsean system. A general disgust is 
rising up against the mummery of science, and time and light 
will soon exercise a sanative power over the disease. 

Some foreign governments have now in this country, agents 
to collect our productions. Scientific foreigners are now ex- 
ploring it with microscopic eyes, and some staiKlard works 
have proceeded from their pens. Pursh, and tlie Micjtaux ia 
botany, and Wilson in ornithology, may be mentioned -fts pe- 
culiarly meritorious. 

Mineralogy has also attracted great attention' froai abroad, 
as well as at home. And we can boast of Cleaveland, whose 
work gives an admirable view of the science : and of Sillman, * 
in natural history generally, whose periodical publications re- 
flect lustre on the investigating spirit of our countr}^ It 
requires more practice than genius to detect the nature of 
minerals ; and no person need despair of success, whether he 
proceed to the developement by external appearance, chemical 
analysis, crystalline structure, or optical character. Geology 
treats of the structure and relative position of the substances 
which compose the crust of the earth — forms an admirable 
illustration of the power, wisdom, and benevolence of the 
Deity ; and so far as it rests on ascertained phenomena, is in 
perfect accordance with the cosmogony of JMoses. In culti- 
vating it, we ought particularly to follow the inductive mode 
of Bacon, and to attend exclusively to facts. It may amuse 
the imagination to read the romances of scientific men, in the 
shape of theories of the earth. Whether this earth is an extin- 
gn'slied sun, or a vitrified globe, or an animal possessed of 
living faculties, or a splinter of the sun, or a concoction of 
chemical affinities and mechanical deposition, or, by failing 
into the great deep, has been split into a thousand fragments, 
or been disorganized and shattered by the impingment of a 
comet, are inquiries little calciilated to instruct the understand- 
ing. The specious figments of genius, and the erratic flights 
of philosophy, may excite our wonder, but they cannot stand 
the ordeal of scrutiny, or the i^ydian touch of experiment. 



22 

Time will scarcely permit even a short allusion to the exact 
sciences, aj^riculture and the mechanic arts, polite literature, 
the fine arts, and political philosopiiy : all of which open sub- 
j'^cis of the most interesting character, that bear directly upon 
the general welfare ; and all of them present the strongest in- 
cenlives to the love of fame,* which is the great principle of 
the noble mind, and the last that it resigns. It is a common 
remark, that, " nihil dictum quod non dictum prius," and 
some are even so absurd as to suppose, that the stock of ori- 
ginal ideas is exhausted. Much, no doubt, has been anticipa- 
ted, but it is equally true that much remains imtouched and 
unnouced. Some of the greatest discoveries have been so 
♦ contemporaneous, that it has been impossible to establish a 
charge of plagiarism. Many ideas are original, as it respects 
the author, and yet are not new : in which case the conception 
is more vivid, and the impression more powerful, than when 
of a derivative character. I'he infinite combinations of which 
the mnid is susceptible — the lights and shades which the Ima- 
gissation can cast upon all subj^rts, and the powerful action of 
the understanding, in measuring the i;elations of ideas — in 
surveying the constitutions of tilings — in penetrating the se- 
crets of nature, and developing the properties t>f mind and 
matter, furnish conclusive evidence of the progressive im- 
provement of our faculties, and of their capacity to elicit new 
ideas on all subjects, and to make discoveries of all kinds. 
Some inventions are the ofi'spring of accident, as gunpowder, 
p-inting, and the mariner's compass. Others, are the re- 
sult of a happy impulse. Some assume maturity at the first 
inception, like Pallas, who sprung from the head of Jove, 
completely armed with the panoply of wisdom. While most 
discoveries have proceeded gradually to perfection, like our 
majestic Hudson, which, although smtdl in its origin, yet, by 
the addition of fresh streams in its career to the ocean, 
becomes at last able to bMr ships of the greatest burden. We 
are as prone to shoot beyond, as to shoot short of the mark ; 
and nothing is more pernicious to the discovery of truth, thaa 

* Tacitus. 



23 

a refining and sophisticating spirit, which infects every sab- 
ject with its perverse and diminutive views. An illustrious 
writer* has well observed, that " men are accustomed to take 
a prospect of nature from some high tower, to view her at a 
distance, and to be too much absorbed in generalities. Whereas 
if they would vouchsafe to descend, approach nearer to par- 
ticulars, and more exactly and considerately look into things 
themselves, there might be a more true and valuable compre- 
hension and discovery." And let it be understood, " that the 
wonders of nature lie out of the high road and beaten paths, 
so that the very absurdity of an attempt may sometimes be 
felicitous."* The mind, matured by deep and continual medi- 
tation — enlightened by wise and learned conversation — and 
fertilized by judicious and extensive reading, resembles that 
splendid metal which was formed from the fusion of many 
minerals in the great conflagration at Corinth. Like the 
crucible of the alchymist, it will indeed aspire to creative 
power : like the deflagrator and the galvanic battery, it pur- 
sues nature into the most occult recesses, and tortures her into 
a confession of her most important secrets ; and like the 
poet's eye, it glances from heaven to earth, Irom earth to hea- 
ven, and as imagination bodies forth the forms of things 
unknown, turns them to shape, and gives to airy nothing a local 
liabitation and a name.f 

Let us then be vigilant and active in the great and holy- 
cause of knowledge. The field of glory stretches before you 
in wide expanse. Untrodden heights) and unknown lands sur- 
round you. Waste not, however, your energies on subjects 
of a frivolous nature, of useless curiosity, or impracticable 
attainment. Books have been multiplied to designate the 
writer of Junius — the Man in the Iron Mask has exercised the 
inquisitorial attention of Europe — and perpetual motion, the 
philosopher's stone, and the immortal elixir, have desiro^'cd 
the lives and fortunes of thousands. Genuine philosophy has 
sometimes its aberrations, and like the Spartan kii}g or Ro- 
man emperor, mingles in the amusements of children. The 

* BacoUt t Shak?peavc, 



24 

sceptre of science is too often surrounded by toys and bau- 
bles, and even Linnaeus condescended to amuse his fancy with 
the creation of vegetable dials and oriental pearls. Innova- 
tion without improvement, and experiments without discove- 
ries, are the rocks on which ingenuity is too often shipwrecked. 

" Omne ignotum pro magnifico,"* said the profound histo- 
rian of Rome. Wonder is the child of ignorance, and vanity 
the offspring of imbecility. Let us be astonished at nothing 
but our own apathy ; and cease to be vain even of our vir- 
tues. The fragrance of the humble lill}' of the valley, and 
of the retiring eglantine of the woods, is more grateful to 
genuine taste, than the expressed odour of the queen of flowers, 
or the most costly products of the chemical alembic. 

In our literary pursuits, let us equally reject a blind credu- 
lity that believes every falde, and a universal pyrrhonism that 
repiidiates all truths — a canine appetite which devours every 
thiuii however light, and digests nothing however alimentary 
— and a fastidious taste, which delights not in the nutritious 
viarjd, but seeks its gratification in the aromatic dessert. 

The waters of ancient learning ought to be drunk at the 
fountain head in preference to the streams. We are too prone 
to rely on references, quotations, abridgments and translations. 
The consequence is, that the meaning of the original frequent- 
ly reaches us in a perverted or erroneous shape — its ethereal 
spirit evaporates by a change of conve3'ance, and we lose our 
acquaintance with the ^earned languages. A fault equally 
common, and more humiliating is an idolatrous veneration for 
the liternry men of Europe, 'ibis intellectual vassalage has 
been visited by high-toned arrogance and malignant vitupera- 
tion. Harmless indeed is the calumny, and it recoils from the 
object like the javelin thrown by the feeble hand of old Priam j 
but it ought to combine with other inducements to encourage 
a vernacular literature, and to cause us to bestow our patron- 
age upon more meritorious works of our own country. We 
have writers of genius and erudition, who h)rm a respectable 
profession. Some have ascended the empyreal heights of 

* Tacitus, 



25 

poesy, and have gathered the laurel wreaths of genius ; others 
have trodden the enchanted ground of fictitious narrative, and 
have been honored by the tears of beauty and the smiles of 
virtue — while several have unfolded the principles of science, 
literature, philosophy, jurisprudence and theology, and have 
exalted the intellectual glory of America ; let us cherish the 
hope, that some at least will devote their faculties to improve 
those arts and sciences on which the substantial interests of our 
country so greatly depend. I refer particularly (to agricul- 
ture, civil engineering, and naval architecture. Let us also 
trust that some vigorous minds will apply their powers to the 
illustration of our history. It has been said, with more point 
than truth, that the annals of modern colonies afford but two 
memorable events — the foundation, and the separation from 
the parent country.* If tliis observation had been so quali- 
fied as to refer to those occurrences as the most memorable, 
not as the only nr.emorable events, it would undoubtedly have 
been correct. The colonial history of New-York, although 
imperfectly executed, and brought down only to 1732, is 
fertile of instruction and replete with interest. The transla- 
tions of the erudite V^anderkemp, and the collections of the 
Historical Society of New- York, have furnished the most 
ample materials; and whenever it is given to the world by a 
master hand, it will be a complete refutation of the remark 
which I have quoted. Is it too much to say, that we have no 
good history of the United States, and that the best account 
of our independence is written by Botta, an Italian ? At this 
moment, a respectable mechanic of the city of London is col- 
lecting materials for writing our history. He is favourably 
noticed by distinguished members of Parliament ; and al- 
though his mind has not been disciplined by a liberal educa- 
tion, yet its productions display vigorous and cultivated 
powers. Let this stimulate us to similar and animated exer- 
tions, and let not our writers despair of ultimate success, even 
if their efforts are attendf^d with partial failures. Experience 
certainly brighten^ the vista of futurity ; but they must expect 

* Humboldt. 

D 



26 

that their fate will be determined sooner or later by intrinsic 
merit. Those writings tliat emit no effulgence, and communi- 
cate no informationj will fall still-boru from the press, and 
plunge at once into the abyss of obscurity. Others again will 
dazzle as they glide rapidly over the literary horizon, and be 
seen no more. Some, after basking in the meridian sunshine, 
will gradually undergo a temporary eclipse ; but time will 
dispense justice, and restore their original splendour. 

So sinks the day-star in the ocean's bed, 

And yet anon »• pairs his drooping head, 

And hicks his beams, and with new spangled ore, 

Flames in the forehead of the morning sky.* 

A fortunate few are always in the full blaze of sublime glory 
—they are the phoenixes of the age — the elect of genius, and 
the favorites of natire and of heaven. 

There is nothing " under heaven's wide hollowness"-]- 
which does not furnish aliment for the mind. All that we ob- 
servr by the organs of sense, and all that we perceive by the 
operations of the understanding — all that we contemplate in 
retrospect, at the present or in the future, may be compounded 
or decomposed in the intellectual laboratory, for beneficial 
purposes. The active mind is always vigilant, always observ- 
ing. The original images which are created by a vivid 
imagination — the useful ideas which are called up by memory, 
and the vigorous advances of the reasoning power into the 
regions of disquisition and investigation, furnish full employ- 
ment for the most powerful mind ; and after it is fully stored 
with all the productions of knowledge, then the intellect has to 
employ its most important functions in digesting and arranging 
the vast and splendid materials. And if there be any thing in 
this world which can administer pure delight, it is when we 
summon our intellectuil resources, rally our mental powers, 
and proceed to the investigation of a subject distinguished for 
its importance and complexity, and its influence on the desti- 
mes of man. 



27 

If science were to assume a visible form, like the fabled 
muses of the ancient mythology, all men would be ready to 
exclaim with the poet— 

-Her angftl's face, 



* As the great eye of heaven shined bright, 

And trade a sunshine in a shady place ; 
Did never mortal eye behold such heavenly grace.* 

But alas ! it is a blessing not without its alloy. Its sedentary 
occupations, and its severe exercises of the mind, impair the 
health : and hypochondria, the Promethean vulture of the stu- 
dent, poisons for a time all the sources of enjoyment. Add to 
this, the tortures of hope deferred, and of expectation disap- 
pointed. After nights without sleep, and days without repose, 
in the pursuit of a favourite investigation — after tasking the 
mind, and stretching all its faculties to the utmost extent of 
exertion, when the golden vision of approaching fame daz- 
zles the eye in the distance, and the hand is extended to taste 
the fruit and to reap the harvest, the airy castles, the gorgeous 
palaces of the imagination, vanish like enchanted ground, and 
disappear like the baseless fabric of a vision. 

From such perversities of fortune, the sunshine of comfort 
may, however be extracted. Tn the failure of a scientific 
investigation, collateral discoveries of great moment have been 
made. And as an eminent philosopherf has well remarked, 
" What succeeds pleaseth more, but what succeeds not, many 
times informs no less." And in the worst position, the mind 
is improved, sharpened, expanded, brightened, and strength- 
ened, by the processes which it has undergone, and the elabo- 
rations which it has experienced. 

We must not then expect 

A perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets, 

Where no crude surfeit reigns 4 

But we may confidently pronounce, that a cornucopia of bless- 
ings will attend the diffusion of knowledge — that it will have 
an electri/ying effect on all sources of individual happiness and 
* Spenser. t Bac«H. t Milton., 



28 

public prosperity — that glory will follow in the train of its 
felicitous cultivaiJon, and that the public esteem, in perennial 
dispensation, will crown its votaries. 

This state enjoys a temperate climate and a fruitful soil, and 
situate between the great lakes on the north and west, and the 
ocean on the south and east, ought alwaj'S to be the seat of 
plenty and salubrity. It requires nothing but the enlightened 
evolution of its faculties and resources to realize the beau- 
ideal of perfection ; and the co-operation of man with the 
bounty of Providence, will render it a terrestrial paradise : 
and this must be effected through the agency of intellectual, 
operating on physical exertion. 

In this grand career of mind, in this potent effort of science, 
in this illustrious display of patriotism, contributions will (low 
in from all quarters, Tlie humble mite will be acceptable as 
well as the golden talent. And the discriminating, perspica- 
cious and comprehensive eye of intellect will find 

Tongues in trees ; books in the running brooks ; 
Sermons in stones ; and good in every thing.* 

Indeed, the very ground on which we stand aflbrds topics 
ibr important consideration and useful application. Tliis city 
was among the earliest seats of European settlement. It was 
at the head of a great portage, reaching from the termination 
of the navigable waters of the west, to the head waters of the 
Hudson. It was the great entrepot of the valuable trade in 
furs and peltries, and the thoroughfare of commercial adven- 
tures, of scientific explorations, and of military expeditions. 
In 1G90, it was destroyed by an irruption of French and In- 
dians. The lives o-f many of its inhabitants were saved as it 
were by a special interposition of Providence. And the sym- 
pathising and pathetic speech of the faithful Mohawks on that 
melancholy occasion, may be ranked among the most splendid 
effusions of oratory. f The alluvial lands of the river, rich as 
the soil formed by the overflowings of the Nile, were the prin- 
cipal residence of that ferocious and martial race, the true old 
* Shakspeare. t Colden's History of the Fi,vc Nations. 



29 

heads of the Iroquois — a confederacy which carried terror, 
havoc and desolation from the Gulph of St. Lawrence to the 
Gulf of Mexico ; and which aspired to universal empire over 
the savage nations. How astonished would that people be, 
if they could be summoned to life, to witness the flowing of 
the waters of the west through this place, seeking, in a navi- 
gable shape, a new route to the Atlantic ocean — carrying on 
their bosom the congregated products of nature and art, and 
spreading as they proceed wealth and prosperity. 

All alluvial ground formed by streams emanating from a dis- 
tance and reinforced in their transit by auxiliary v. aters, must 
be fertile not only in soil, but abundant in the various produc- 
tions of the vegetable kingdom. The germs of plants will be 
transported from remote quarters ; and the gorges and ravines, 
formed in many places by intersecting streams, will not only 
protect particular spots from the ravages of the plow, but 
open the treasures of the mineral kingdom by the profound 
excavations of the water and the transportation of distant 
fossils. Here, then, is a proper region for interesting disco- 
very. Strange trees now flourish on the banks of the river ; 
many a flower is born to blush unseen, and many a curious 
production has never undergone scientific scrutiny. 

Here has been established a great seminary of education, 
which in less than thirty years has risen to an extraordinary 
altitude of excellence — which unites the ardour of youthful 
enthusiasm with the wisdom of experienced longevit}', and the 
celebrity of confirmed usefulness — and which, by an able dif- 
fusion of the light of knowledge and a dexterous management 
of the helm of government, has already produced scholars who 
adorn and illumine the walks of science and literature — tiie 
pursuits of professional life, and the councils of our country. 

In this vicinity flourished Sir fViUiam Johnson, one of the 
extraordinary characters of our colonial history. He settled 
near the banks of the Mohawk, and from humble beginnings 
he acquired great celebrity, particularly in war — iinmense 
wealth, and the favour of his sovereign. Auspicious events, 
in occurrence with a paramount influence over the Indians, 



30 

and great energy of character, laid the foundation and erected 
the superstructure of his fortunes. In this place lived and died 
that eminent servant of God, the Rev. Dr. Romeyn, the fra- 
grance of whose virtues is still cherished *..in your hearts 
and felt in you lives. His venerable form — his dignified 
deportment — his eye beaming goodness and his voice uttering 
wisdom, are still fresh in your minds ; so impressive is the 
power of combined virtue and intelligence. Dr. Dwight the 
greatest theologian of the age, has pronounced his eulogium ; 
and it remains for biography to perform its functions, and to 
fill up the outlines so ably drawn by one of the most acute ob- 
servers and profound thinkers which our country has pro- 
duced.* 

Finally, whatever may be our thoughts, our words, our 
writings, or our actions, let them all be subservient to the pro- 
motion of science and the prosperity of our country. Plea- 
sure is a shadow ; wealth is vanity, and power a pageant — but 
knowledge is extatic in enjoyment, perennial in fame, unlimited 
in space, and infinity in duration. In the performance of its 
sacred ofiices, it fears no danger, spares no expense, omits no 
exertion. It scales the mountains, looks into the volcano, 
dives into the ocean, perforates the earth, wings its flight into 
the skies, encircles the globe, explores sea and land, contem- 
plates the distant, examines the minute, con)prehends the great, 
and ascends the sublime. No place too remote for its grasp 
— no heavens too e xjaJte d for its reach. " Its seat is the bosom 
of God — its voice^-^Wiarmony of the world. All things in 
heaven and earth do it homage, the very least as feeling its 
care, and the greatest as not exempt from its power. Both 
angels and men and creatures, of what condition soever, 
though each in different sort and manner, yet all, with uniform 
consent, admiring it as the parent of peace and happiness. "f 

* Dwight's Travels. t Hooker. 



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